Rick Santorum Attacks Gingrich’s ‘Harebrained’ Ideas

Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call(SPARTANBURG, S.C.) — Rick Santorum ripped into Newt Gingrich on Wednesday, responding to his rival’s suggestion that he bow out of the race now that polls show Gingrich besting Santorum in South Carolina with three days to go before voters go to the polls.

“The hubris, and I might even go so far as to say the arrogance, of Speaker Gingrich to suggest that I don’t have the experience to run a campaign, to win a national campaign, having won four elections in four heavily Democratic districts and states, having defeated two incumbent Democrats,” Santorum said before contrasting his record with Gingrich and blasting him for supporting the bailouts and an individual health care mandate.

“I don’t need to be the smartest person in the room to think of some harebrained idea every two minutes,” Santorum said, digging at Gingrich.

He also jabbed his rival for once starring in a commercial with Nancy Pelosi that aimed to draw attention to man-made global warming saying, “The only person I ever sat on a couch with was my wife!”

“Judgment matters. When the winds are blowing, what we’ve seen in Romney and Gingrich is that they put their sails up and go. I tack against the wind,” Santorum told a crowd of about 100 people packed into the Beacon Drive-In in Spartanburg, S.C.

The former Pennsylvania senator also mentioned his virtual tie in Iowa and the certification that is currently taking place and will be announced Thursday at 8:15 a.m. central time, according to the Iowa Republican Party.﻿